Just in case you forget, as you go out looking for cryptids, yes, animals do attack. Animals are doing what animals do.

Two surfers have been killed by sharks off the west coast of Mexico this spring, and people continue to be have less than warm and fuzzy encounters.

There are breaking announcements and news this week of some violent and deadly confrontations of the natural history kind.

A cougar attacked, killed and partially ate a New Mexico man living in a trailer, authorities announced on Tuesday, June 24, 2008.

A search party found the body of Robert Nawojski, 55, in a wooded area near his mobile home in Pinos Altos, New Mexico, late last week, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish said. Investigators concluded that Nawojski had been attacked and killed by a cougar at a spot close to his home, where he lived alone and was known to bathe and shave outdoors.

Spokesman Dan Williams said the animal subsequently dragged Nawojski’s body a short distance into nearby woodland and ate and buried parts of it.

Nawojski was reported missing by his brother last week.

A search party found a cougar lurking near his home, and reported it to the Department of Game and Fish, who shot and wounded the animal.

After the cougar ran off, the officer found the door to the mobile home open, the water running and Nawojski’s false teeth on the table.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, June 22, 2008, an adolescent male lose an arm during an alligator attack in Florida. The teenager was attacked by an 111/2-foot alligator, but managed to get away with his life but lost his arm.

A Sheriff’s Office report says Kasey Edwards was with friends on Nubbin Slough in Okeechobee County when he decided to swim across a 25-foot-deep canal. Halfway through the swim, an alligator clamped down on his left arm.

Edwards says he fought back by grabbing a buoy line and not letting go. He then poked the animal in the eye to get free. He was able to swim back to his friends.

The arm was recovered from the alligator’s stomach, but was too badly damaged to reattach.

Finally, in Kenya, Toroitich Kurere, 70, died at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital on Saturday, June 21, 2008, as his son who was admitted to the same ward watched helplessly.

The two were in hospital after they were attacked by a hyena at their farm next to Lake Bogoria National Park in Baringo District last Monday, June 16, 2008. The elderly man had fought off a hyena as it was attacking his son.

It was not mentioned if it was a spotted or a striped hyena. Both are found in Kenya, but the striped hyena is much more shy than the spotted.

About Loren ColemanLoren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

The cougar I can kinda see, although he must have been investigating a noise outside when he was attacked. A cougar going inside? That is a little braver than most cougars would ever be.
The one that threw me for a loop was the hyena. I know that they might take a lion cub or two if they are left unattended or they wander off, but anything bigger…hyenas are scavengers, aren’t they? I always thought humans were always too much for hyenas to even attempt.

BUT…while I can’t say much about cougars or hyenas, we’re pretty regularly warned in Florida to not swim where gators have been sighted — especially in the summertime, when they’re on the hunt for mates and tend to get very persnickety and territorial. My impression is that most gator attacks happen during mating season. (11-1/2 feet? that’s enough to scare the fire out of me!)

The stories on Cryptomundo are hints of much deeper material, and I am happy to stimulate people to read more about what interests you, to find out more details about incidents (I can’t capture everything on a blog), or, indeed, to share in the comments section what else about the topic at hand (no pun intended) intrigues you.

It is well known that hyenas are important predators, in addition to working to scavenge kills from other predators. Hyenas are not to be messed with. The case with the cougar and hyena here are unfortunate. Swimming where an alligator is possible is sadly stupid. But, I’m always amazed at how often people take wildlife for granted, and forget quickly the “wild” in wildlife. I’ve seen people walk right up near a full-grown bison in Yellowstone and turn their back to the animal for someone taking a picture. That is insane. Though nothing happened that time, I’ve also seen footage on TV of a bison toss a guy some fifteen feet into the air and into a tree for getting too close. I always root for the animal in those cases. People need to respect a creature’s right to personal space.

A spotted hyena is a big animal, immensely strong, fast and intelligent, with teeth capable of cracking a buffalo skull. Google hyena attacks on people and you may be in for a shock. Hyenas do attack and kill people. The also appear to be very susceptible to rabies, and to go into the furious stage when they are rabid. There have been several documented cases, within the last few years, of a rabid hyena killing more than one person. It’s almost always spotted hyenas; they are much bigger and more aggressive than other hyena species, and also more numerous.

“This is tragic. Fortunately these species aren’t endangered, and the individuals can be dealt with, without destroying the reproductive survival of the species.”
The other unfortunate aspect of this is that man himself is to blame in most animal attacks. Wild animals are routinely fed by humans, habitat destruction forces animals out of their natural environments and away from their natural foods, and perhaps worst of all humans going into wild areas have this ego that makes them think they are untouchable “apex predators”. Further, as time goes on you can expect to see a rise in attacks like these as animals are forced into more and more unnatural situations.
ITS NOT THE ANIMAL’S FAULT!
Respect is what is mising here. Animals do what they do and we should be intelligent enough to leave the natural world as it is. I find myself more and more siding with the animal that usually ends up dead as the result of the stupidity of a human. Accidents happen, but which animal should know better?
I’m an agnostic (I was raised protestant), but I think we all agree that the responsibility of taking care of the planet and all that lives upon it is ours, and it is a charge we should take with the utmost sincerity. Our lives depend on it.

So, is it the fault of the biker who is minding his business, enjoying a morning ride through a rural area, when he is suddenly jumped and subsequently half-eaten by a 140-pound cougar?

Is it then the fault of the next biker who happens to be a young, beautiful woman minding her own business, exercising and enjoying her freedom, when the same cougar who has just half-eaten her associate, jumps her, rips off a large portion of her face, before two or three other bikers are able to wrest their friend from the cougar?

Is it the fault of the 6-foot-three-inch, 230-pound man who is hiking with his girlfriend when he is jumped by a cougar who gives its best efforts to down the man and make him into lunch?

Maybe it’s the fault of the six-year old boy who gets jumped by a hungry cougar before his dad is able to fight it off?

Maybe it’s the fault of the Arkansas woman who is tending her freaking garden when she is stalked, chased, killed and eaten by a cougar?

There are NUMEROUS such cases as I’ve mentioned here; do the homework, and become informed.

Let’s get something straight. Cougars aren’t overgrown, soft, cuddly, innocent house cats. They’re designed by nature to be terminators of other species and they do it well. Often, they show absolutely no fear of humans, especially as of recent times; as humans become less and less threatening, cougars become more and more bold when considering humans as an easy meal.

When cougars, who are among the most aggressive wildlife species in North America, attack humans, it’s normally because they want dinner.

It’s usually not because they’re cornered or to protect young (although that could happen); in most cases, they want to EAT humans. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of cases documented where they actually do make meals out of humans, or they desperately try to, leaving the humans terribly scarred for life, physically and mentally.

Humans, who certainly have a great responsibility to take care of the planet, are part of the environment as much as anything else, and have every right to enjoy the outdoors without having to fear being eaten for dinner.

Sergio, you say humans are part of the environment just as much as anything else. Well part of being part of the environment is accepting and preparing for the fact that you may become dinner. I find it laughable that people want to “get close to nature” or “move to the country” and then bitch when animals do what animals naturally do. We are not exempt from the laws of nature, we aren’t special in the eyes of nature, to wild animals we’re just another food source (or predator as is typically the case). I feel bad for anyone who is attacked by a wild animal but when you go outdoors thats the risk you take. If you fear being eaten (even though you probably won’t) then stay indoors or live in a city.

Perhaps it is you who should do his homework. Humans are not the natural food source of cougars. No predator that I am aware of (including individual lions and tigers that have killed large numbers of humans) attacks an unnatural food source unless there are mitigating factors.

Are the individual persons who are attacked always at fault? No. I did not mean to somehow lessen the human tragedy of this situation, but bear in mind that it is tragic for both the human and the animal.

Further, you make no mention of domestic animal attacks. Domestic dogs may not be interested in EATING (as you say) humans, but I can guarantee they claim more lives and account for more trauma than cougars by a long shot. As the father of a five year-old, it would be great to be able to walk through a neighborhood and not have to worry about dog attacks. But that’s the way it is-it’s the same thing in nature, pal. So unless you want to eradicate dogs, cougars, sharks, lions, tigers, bears (oh my), and all the other human-endangering animals you might as well learn to deal with it.

My point is that I am just sick to death of ignorant humans casting animals as malevolent creatures or worse: they were put on this earth to be a food product or a source of entertainment. In my opinion, they are neither.

As a species, are we not the ones who have decreased the habitat of these animals, depleted their food sources, and pushed our way into their territories?

Hey, I am no animal rights activist. But as someone who has been bitten, scratched, and attacked by more animals than I can remember (I have over 20 years of professional animal handling experience and have the scars to prove it) I place the blame squarely on my shoulders, not the animal’s.

You may continue your rantings on this topic, but as for me, I believe I have said all I wish to say.

I grew up in a wild area and as a child you learned early to respect nature and keep an eye out for the native inhabitants.

We had a bear try to get into the house and the bobcats would sometimes kill the chickens but you knew this was how it was and tried not to put yourself into a position where an opportunistic predator get a chance to do what he does best. Man is not a protected species, at least not as for as the other animals are concerned, we are just lunch.

Dang, I guess that means I can never again try go out in nature again? Because if I just go out in nature minding my own business without hurting anything I’m risking being eaten?
I gess what you’re saying is little comfort to that little boy who watched his father die: “Well, son. you should not have been outside.” Same goes for that woman some years who got her face bitten off by that killer cougar and was saved by the friend she was innocently bicycling with. I guess you cannot even do that.
I understand that some attacks are due to human negligence or carelessness or such, but this is too much.
That’s mighty hardcore there, Maslo.

What do you want cryptids? For every potential predator of man to be eradicated so you can run around risk free in the wilderness? Want to sit them all around a room for a one-on-one explaining that you just want to be lest alone and mind you’re own business? It doesn’t work that way. All I’m saying is that in any natural ecosystem the risk for an attack by a predator exists. Be it the Amazon rainforest, the Pacific ocean or your own backyard. I’m not saying that you can’t go out in nature, I’m saying that unless you’re willing to take that risk you shouldn’t. The wilderness is not a playground and too many people think it is. I would no sooner walk through the dark alleyway of the projects without the proper precautions and knowledge of the location then I would any wild ecosystem. Learn about the location, learn about its inhabitants, prepare for what could happen and most of all respect the wilderness. It’s not your home, its not your playground and it plays by its own rules.

Even when an attack by an animal is not the individual person’s “fault”, the fact remains that people are pushing into the animals’ habitat, and in the process they are pushing the animals out. Most of the people who are attacked are more or less innocently pursuing their activities – but most of them don’t have a clue how to act in an area where wild animals live.

It isn’t just predators that kill people. Moose, elk, and even whitetail deer – among many other species – have been known to kill people. People almost always compound the problem by acting unwisely or incautiously. They ride trails by themselves, or allow their children to run about, or try to get too close to baby animals, etc.

Using common sense to avoid encounters in the first place, and keeping presence of mind and not panicking in the evnt that an encounter does occur, go a long way toward preventing human tragedy.

Not all attacks can be prevented, and the injuries can be terrible and life-changing. In some cases the animal has to be destroyed; in other cases they can be relocated and tagged as dangerous, thereby preserving them for reproduction.

Almost all animal attacks – in hindsight – were preventable, until one incautious or unwise move triggerred predatory behavior.

I wish to continue because I am reading some fantasy rants by dmpelley, maslo63 and kittenz.

The article is not about domesticated animal attacks; it is about wildlife attacks. I said what I said, because many people, (including some on this thread), are obviously ignorant of the numerous documented accounts of tragic attacks on humans by cougars.

The attacks, in large part, were NOT preventable, as kittenz asserted.

How could the woman who was gardening in her own yard have prevented a cougar from stalking and eating her? I suppose she could have been armed and shot it. Then, idiots would scream about how the shooting was unjustified.

I suppose my great-grandmother could have shot the cougar that nearly cost her life back in 1966. I guess it was her fault; after all, she lived out in the cougar’s habitat. Tough break, according to maslo63, that’s just the way it goes and you gotta be ready for it.

And yes, dmpelley’s post very much minimized the tragic accident of this 55-year-old man in New Mexico being partially devoured by a cougar. Of course it did. The post seemed to say: “Damn humans! They deserve it! They’re the ones who are encroaching into wildlife territory! They get what they deserve! I am tired of the abuse they give animals anyway, so turnabout’s fair play! Good for that cougar. Poor thing. The man shouldn’t have been in his yard bathing and shaving.”

I say to that and similar comments – sickening and utterly ridiculous.

No, cougars are most certainly not malevolent, but their aggressiveness is very often underestimated, and very often excused and blamed on humans. It’s about time that stopped.

I was mauled by a cougar once… it took three of my friends to pull her off of me…

…and get her thrown out of the club.

Levity aside… I can’t feel sorry for someone who goes, gets drunk, and jumps into the killer whale pool and ends up dying (whether said orca, Tillikum, actually killed him remains unresolved though Tillikum and two other whales had killed a trainer who had fallen into their tank some years previously — oh yes, this’ll open a whole other can of worms!), nor can I feel sorry for someone who gets drunk and goes for an evening swim in shark- or ‘gator-infested waters. I’m callous enough to think, “Well, that’s natural selection at work… who’s next?”

Kittenz points out that using common sense is the best way to avoid attacks… unfortunately, “common sense” is the biggest misnomer there is. In most humans, common sense is a rare quality.

There are attacks that are anomalous and cannot be prevented — and of course, these get plenty of attention; but let’s not blow things out of proportion, here — the vast majority of incidents, particularly involving species that aren’t predatory (hippopotami kill more humans than any other African animal — that revelation was a shocker to yours truly as well), happen because of human carelessness or stupidity.

Let’s not forget that while we can alter our environment at a faster rate than any other species on the planet, we are not above our environment, nor are we above nature. Ultimately, humankind’s biggest predator remains humankind…

On that note, I think I’m going to go grab a spot of lunch… with fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Kittenz I agree with your comments and I appreciate that you are trying to keep this a discussion rather than an argument.

You’re right a lot of the times people are doing nothing wrong, they just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Other times people make poor decisions and they reap the consequences.

Animals are not out to get us, yes there are rare occasions where animals MAY be targeting us (man eaters of Tsavo anyone?) but it’s rare. I like this article because it reminds us that the wild is very much wild. Sometimes people are hurt due to poor choices (the boy in Florida) other times it’s a sad crossing of paths (cougar attack).

Now for a story (and what I was originally going to say)

When I was younger my family took a trip to the everglades of Florida. We were driving along a road and we pulled off to look at a pond that some people were looking an alligator in. Everyone was keeping their distance, except for one man. This guy worked his way down to the water to try and point the animal out to his kid. Well this is obviously a rather stupid thing to do (he was on the edge of the water, only a couple feet from the gator). He leaned over to point at it and the gator lunged, and let me tell you I have seen very few people sprint like that guy did then! What that situation comes down to is that the man did not use any good sense, ignored warning to keep a distance and put himself in danger. He stressed the animal out and it lunged. Now I would like to point out alligator are extremely fast and if it really wanted it could have grabbed him and brought him into the water, but it didn’t. The gator gave him a warning and luckily he had headed it.

We all know, from a young age instinctually that certain things can be dangerous. As we grow we add more and more things to our “catalogue” of possibly dangerous things. Yet we venture into areas where predatory or dangerous animals habitate. Why? Because we are human, thats simply what we do. Asking someone to live in fear becuase they choose to co-habitate with potential injurious animals is simply silly. Sure, accidents happen, sure, occasionally a predatory animal actively stalks and kills a human. This is life folks. It doesnt MATTER who is at fault, it never has. What matters is how you deal with it. I’ve been on the recieving end of domestic dog bites, and wild boar chases. Neither is fun, nor was either expected. But at NO point did i say to myself, “self, your in thier terf now, they have a right to do you bodily harm”. This turf war argument about animals and man is pure distraction. We have existed in thier lands since our inception, the trick is finding a balance somewhere so we may mitigate the threat of the animals, and not place undue stress on them. As far as the argument i read previously that we somehow “compete” with animals for thier food sources is pure bunk. Ive never chased a grizzly off his kill so that i may nibble the tender bits of his hard earned elk. Nor have i ever run a whitetail out of my yard because he is eating MY grass, which goes lovely in a salad. The problem is simply proximity. We get in thier way and they will act or react however they deem appropriate. As far as predatory hunting and killing of humans? Absolutely it happens, and the offending animal should be excised from any area that has frequent human visitation, pure and simple. If it cant be relocated, then it should be eradicated. We will never “teach” nature to not be well…. natural. So we are left with few options. Deal with the facts folks, we humans are here, we are numerous bossy smelly unpredictable creatures ourselves, sure, but we are here, and we are searching for the same thing all other things on this planet are, safety, happiness, and the chance to grow our family. You wont ever stop the human race as a whole from advancing itself into the most remote of places. And claiming its not right doesnt matter, it is what it is, right or not. Rather than saying “animals have a right, its your fauly, blah blah blah” try saying “how can i, personally, assure that both species involved get through this with as little impact to thier daily lives as possible.
Remember, the only reason cougers and bears dont run the joint is thier lack of a thinking reasoning human mind. Give them that, and im quite certain they wont be asking how they can minimize pain for our species, rather they would be asking if we taste better par-boiled or grilled. We are a destructive species, no question. But we are also the only species capable of producing an answer.
Rap

Oh, and by the way, unless you subsist yourselves entirely on free ranging vegetables and animals, and live in complete harmony with nature, your supporting the same “expansion” of human territory you so vehemently espouse to hate. And i swear if anyone claims they are doing such, they must be beaten with the sillystick. Your on the internet, it runs on power, right? fueled by what? sunshine and farts? your munching your chips or carrots while you read right? grown and cooked on land once occupied by animals that have long since been displaced. Im not saying its right, nor am i saying we NEED to expand, but i am saying it is what it is, learn to deal with it, or find a solution that doesnt involve de-evolution of humans as an industrious species.
My my, arent i opinionated today.
Rap

people have to realize that if you present a hungry animal with an opportunity for an easy meal, they will take it. they act on instinct, there is no premeditation. that is why it is sad to see these animals hunted down after such attacks.

our logic is to stop these animals from becoming ‘man – eaters’; so we run into the forest (cougars) or ocean (sharks) or rivers (alligators) to retrieve these vicious beasts for the safety of our 7 billion strong population. if only we applied this same reasoning to those animals that do premeditate the killing of humans – other humans.

we also have to realize that with overfishing, overhunting, and overpopulation by humans, that there is less prey species for these animals, which in turn leads them back to us, and there are plenty of us around.

basically, we can’t treat every cougar attack as a crisis. there are 300M people in the U.S. Cougar populations don’t even come close to that amount.

just think…in the time it took me to write this little essay, probably a dozen or so people were killed by other people across our tiny blue planet. where are those articles?

I do understand that some animal attacks are the result of human carelessness or stupidity; I’m not saying that that does not happen. Kittenz also makes good points about human intrusion into animal habitats—I’m not for that and understand that sometimes things “happen” as a result.

What I was reacting to was Maslo statement saying “if you fear being eaten—-(which you probably won’t) then stay indoors or in the city.” It just seemed a bit hardcore—although I understand his response. It just seemed he was saying that if one decides to go outside in nature that person must always account for the possibility of bieng attacked. And if that person is attacked, then it’s strictly their fault. I’m sorry, that is not true.

While there is a risk, some people are simply minding their own business and staying out of the way of animals. Look to the examples I talked about in my previous post. And Sergio, I agree with you. This is not about provoked attacks; this is about people minding their own business—unprovoked attacks. Andrew Minnesota also makes good points. This is a case of people being in the wrong place and wrong time. I was just reacting to what I considered to be a lack of compassion “those filthy, selfish humans always provoke this” attitude on the part of a particular poster. If that was not the poster’s actual attitude, then I apologize.

First, we ARE their natural prey. Just because we don’t want to be doesn’t mean we aren’t.

Second, there is only so much human beings can do to prevent nature from being natural. We can live in cities and never venture into woodlands or deserts or swamps, but it won’t matter, the animals will migrate into our habitat just like we (admittedly, more abruptly) migrate into theirs.

I have been watching this conversation and I must say it’s made me think alot about this type of situation. Cryptidsrus, I disagreed with you until your most recent comment, which I mostly agree with. The only thing I’ll argue with is your statement that some animal attacks are completely unprovoked. I have never heard of an instance in which a cougar leaps out and attakcs someone on the road or in their backyard (unless the road winds through a cougar habitat or the backyard is the wild). It just doesn’t happen. The human might accidentally wander through a wild animal’s nest, and this is why we have to be really really careful. Of course, this does not undermine the tragedy of the whole situation. It’s EXTREMELY terrible when something like this happens–I can’t even imagine the suffering that these people and their families go through. It’s difficult for me to blame the victim when I wasn’t there at the time.
What I’m saying is that it’s neither a responsible nor a permanent solution to kill the animal after the fact, or to try to drive its kind out of the area. Admittedly, if this happened to me I would probably be so angry that I’d want the animal dead. And yes, as humans in the modern age, it is our nature to expand and take territory for ourselves. It is also our natural instinct to try to kill the animals that hurt us. But also, as thinking humans, it is our responsibility to recognize the fact that we share this planet with a number of other species who can’t intelligently avoid us as we can them. We shouldn’t just keep expanding and expanding, and keep relocating the native animals to other habitats, until there’s no room left for them.

Most people today are not taught the way of the forest or the plains. They do not know how to be careful or what to watch for in the wild country. Even the most skilled can be caught unawares by a cougar or bear. But the first rule is always: never to put yourself in a place of obvious danger. I am very sorry for the families of the victims.

Cryptids: What I was reacting to was Maslo statement saying “if you fear being eaten—-(which you probably won’t) then stay indoors or in the city.” It just seemed a bit hardcore—although I understand his response. It just seemed he was saying that if one decides to go outside in nature that person must always account for the possibility of bieng attacked. And if that person is attacked, then it’s strictly their fault. I’m sorry, that is not true.

You got half of it right. If a person is to go outside I do believe they should account for the possibility of an attack, there is nothing wrong with being educated and prepared. Never did I say it was strictly their fault for the attack however. While in many cases it is the fault of man it certainly isn’t true for every attack.

I think all of you have good points and are correct to a certain degree. The fact is we coexist with all these animals, and are bound to get attacked by them every now and then. Its nature. Humans and our ancestors have been getting attacked, killed, and eaten by animals for millions of years. I honestly don’t think that animals are ever at fault. They are animals and aren’t thinking that they are killing, just getting food or protecting themselves. Now I’m not saying that its always the human’s fault, it’s not, but sometimes it is. Such as the school teacher vacationing in Africa, who walked right up to a completely wild female lion. Needless to say she was mauled, but she did live. I hope she learned a lesson. Or the grizzly man who “lived with” grizzly bears. Although it is very sad that he was eaten by “his” bears, he was completely at fault. All he was doing was letting wild bears get used to humans, which is not a good thing. When animals don’t fear us, we get eaten. I think to coexist with wild animals we both need a healthy fear of each other.

After reading everyone’s comments, I thought of something that I find interesting. First. I think that when an animal attacks a human, it should be relocated to a different area far from human populations. (although those are kinda hard to come by now). Now to what I find interesting. Why is is that when an animal kills a human they usually get killed, but when a human kills another person they get life in prison or 20 years on death row? Specially since animals kill for food or in defense, but humans usually kill out of malicious intent. Anyways, just thought that was kind of interesting.